It's All Good
by Irene Claire
Summary: Sort of a companion piece to the Steve-centric A Solitary Life. But of course, Danny's musings instead. Not slash/no whump. At attempt at his thoughts and feelings. Completed but Two Chapters since he just has more to say!
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**NOTE: Okay, so Steve story was a true one-shot, one chapter deal. Danny just isn't as easy for the muses to get a handle on. So it's a two-shot, two chapter event. Sans whump .. sorry (but not really) .. there was no place here for it; the muses did agree it to be completely unnessary. I bet it's already nearing the time when my DWOCD pals would LOVE for my job to be fraught with angst again. LOL! I do fear that there may be a connection.**

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**CHAPTER ONE**

"_Good_!" The look on Steve's face after bursting out with the one word was not so quickly hidden. And Danny might have seen surprise, as well as a great deal of relief.

He said it on the heels of Danny just barely finishing a sentence about _not_ following Rachel to Las Vegas. And frankly, Danny's realization about that even surprised him and he honestly felt the rush of liberation as soon as the words came out of his mouth.

When had THAT all changed? A few short months ago, he'd been ready to go back to New Jersey with Rachel. Sure he may have felt some guilt, but he would have happily cleaned up his case work and then bid a fond farewell to his team, his friends and island life. He would have helped Steve muck through his issues and stayed for as long as needed .. but then, he would have gladly run back to the East Coast where things were normal, familiar and predictable.

But when he admitted to Steve that Rachel and Stan were seriously thinking of relocating back to the mainland, the realization that he actually didn't _want_ to leave was staggering.

And it was more than being tired of feeling like a beaten puppy following someone that had tossed it a bone or shown a moment's kindness. That seemingly spontaneous decision was definitely more than not wanting to move again or not having the energy to follow his ex-wife to another ridiculous place.

It likely had a great deal to do with Danny finally having had enough of being tossed around and taken advantage of. He had finally found the courage to stand his ground, dig in deep, and fight back 110 percent. And not only for Grace, but for himself because he was happy and there were now other important factors too.

_Good_, Steve had said it and he had meant it. Danny may have almost missed the matching expression, but he'd definitely heard the relieved and approving tone. And it was _good_ because even with the stress of getting to that day, the ruling had been in his favor and he would not lose Grace. Even after his confusing, almost embarrassing ramble about not liking Hawaii. He still wouldn't lose Grace. Unable to stop his mouth, the words had popped out and he had honestly felt stupid since they suddenly sounded very wrong.

And it certainly would have hurt to lose her to yet another long distance move. But it would also hurt to lose Five-0 since that had become an equally important part of his existence. It defined him and Danny wasn't sure he could bear to not be part of the task force or now, to leave friends which had become a permanent extension of his being.

Plus, it would have broken his heart to put Grace through another selfish, adult-orchestrated, nasty power play which could do more long-term damage and harm. So this one very important time, Danny had dug in and made his statement and yes, he had quite unexpectedly won. But if he had lost, Danny realized that he would have had very serious second thoughts about picking up and returning to the mainland. That move back certainly would have held its own set of challenges especially after the Rick Peterson issue. Because obviously, not all of his Jersey peers would think Danny Williams was a good guy for turning in and taking the stand against one of their own regardless of the man's guilt. A request for a transfer back to his old life would have held a great deal of consequences. There was no 'old life' and he was deluding himself if he thought it could ever be that easy to resume something now long gone.

And Peterson proved that danger could and would follow the Detective anywhere he might go. So he couldn't blame any of that on the rock he was now living on in the middle of nowhere.

Oddly though if he had lost Grace to distance, Danny would have been able to cope with it because other things in his life were also _good_ and balanced. Those things were part of the unrecognizable changes that slowly had wormed their way into his every day existence. Things that weren't actually 'things' but real people that had become as close as family. People like Steve, Chin and Kono .. Kamekona and even Max that had joined the growing fray of cohorts.

It was possible that the good changes had started to sneak their way into his life upon being teamed with Detective Meka Hanamoa since they'd had a natural affinity; regardless, the noticeable things in his life had started their inexplicable change with the advent of Five-0.

It was a Saturday morning, the day after his lawyer had called with the good news, and Danny was sitting in his new apartment. He, Denning and Steve had a mini celebration of sorts the night before. And he didn't have Grace that weekend and astonishingly enough, he was fine with it. In fact, he had zero plans for the entire weekend. Stretching happily, he put his feet up on the opposite chair and leaned back with his eyes closed. Placidly seated at the small kitchen table he was having a fairly decent cup of coffee and mulling over the brief conversation with his lawyer. He was also surprising himself with his newfound sense of peaceful balance within his universe.

"_Good news. The judge ruled against Mrs. Edwards .. she can not take your daughter away from you." _

"Good. Again." Danny muttered out loud with a mixture of relief, pride and a great deal of personal satisfaction. "It's all good."

He couldn't remember the last time he had ever said that word and meant it. Or, felt so content, relaxed and at home since the first rumblings of trouble in his own marriage. He'd finally unpacked his boxes and he'd found a place where he fit though it happened while he was kicking and screaming .. while he was fighting tooth and nail against fitting in with every loud fiber of his being. It had just taken him a very long time to admit it.

He was more than a cop here; even more than a detective. He had accidentally found himself in a unique place that fit his unique personality and he liked the contribution he could make on a daily basis.

So here he was on a peaceful Saturday morning completely alone but content in every aspect of his immediate existence. It was almost baffling because he never could have seen himself _here_ …especially on the aforementioned pineapple-infested hell-hole smack dab in the middle of the great blue Pacific Ocean.

Originally, he had no choices left. No choice in the divorce which had picked him up and spat him out almost broken and defeated. And then no choice with what Rachel did next in moving to the other side of the world. Quite literally moving to an island in the middle of nowhere and away from everything familiar and predictable. Except of course, for Grace. Only she and his brother, Mattie, had kept him from total self-annihilation.

His world literally began, ended and revolved around his daughter. But Danny hadn't meant to actually redefine every other part of his life to be with her, and yet that was exactly what had happened.

His thought process had only gone as far as "_I can be a cop anywhere_" and if that meant moving to a god-forsaken island to be with his daughter, than so be it. So once Rachel announced the transition, his only next course of action was to put in for a transfer. Because yes, he could be a cop or a detective virtually anywhere as long as Grace was nearby.

But what happened next was completely out of his hands and two completely divergent worlds collided. Once again, he was informed that he no choice in the matter when Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett stepped foot on the Island's sand and then literally stood dripping from an afternoon rainstorm on his doorstep. And the words the man had so blithely stated had been absolutely the truth.

_"You've got no choice Detective. The Governor gave me jurisdiction and I'm making you my partner."_

_"We're gonna get along great."_

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**CHAPTER TWO**

On Monday afternoon, a new case demanded that he and Steve once again borrow Kamekona's helicopter. Armed to the teeth, Danny just accepted what they needed to do to get the latest job done. And it had been pedestrian enough with the lead a total bust and the need for the chopper complete overkill.

"Ain't that the truth." Danny muttered to himself as he braced for Steve's skillful landing of the helicopter and considered how two worlds collided to bring him where he was present day. And it almost seemed like many things he had or didn't have were the results of some collision or another. And almost always thrust upon him without having a choice. "Yup, that would be the story of my life."

His idle weekend thoughts had been barely under the surface as his work week kicked back in to its hectic and totally unpredictable pace. Again, seemingly without a say in the matter, Danny found himself reminiscing about becoming the unwilling partner of someone who wasn't originally properly trained in law enforcement. And not just anyone but a decorated Navy SEAL and excuse me, but how does something like that happen?

"Because it's the story of my life." He sniffed again but not unhappily as he was lightly jolted by the landing. Oh and let's not forget to mention getting placed on a spontaneously created, totally off the cuff, Governor's task force with the most incredible non-rules he'd ever heard of.

There was a time not so long ago where Danny had yearned for a life-saving predictability. He needed that to breathe and to get from day-to-day insanity of his personal life because of the divorce and the volume of changes heaped on him by that volatile world. A predictability that would counter the insanity of his ex-wife and allow him the respite of an unyielding faith that maybe, just maybe, something could be salvaged and go back to the way it had been.

On a continued high after the news about the custody hearing, Danny was still marveling about his own easy acceptance of remaining in Hawaii regardless of what the outcome would have been. And maybe it was easy to think about that since things were resolved in his favor. But Danny felt the stirrings of a giggle as he recalled their first marching orders as a team, which had since been redefined by Governor Denning. Sometimes it had worked for him and other times, the stretching of or sheer lack of rules bothered his innate sense of right and wrong.

"Full immunity and means?" He softly grinned the sentence out of his mouth. "Perfect."

Certainly some of it had gone completely against his beliefs of a properly meted out righteousness within the appropriate guidelines of the criminal justice system. He had to remind himself often that his partner was not a real cop. Steve McGarrett was _different_ and by being different, Danny Williams had learned to adapt quickly.

"Full immunity and means?" He said the words once more as he hopped out of Kamekona's helicopter – yes a real helicopter – that his oddball partner could actually _fly_. There were days now when he felt like a kid in a candy store and all the treats were free.

"Super SEAL loves his toys." The grin after the words couldn't be hidden at that and it brought back a startling flood of realizations that had become more and more impossible to believe. First and foremost that none of this would happen in the life of a normal Jersey cop. But _normal_ had fled his life the moment he stepped foot in Hawaii.

And anything normal or predictable had definitely taken a back seat the day at McGarrett senior's house when a supposed trespasser at the crime scene was sworn in directly in front of him by the prior Governor. And then mere hours later without a choice in the world, Danny would never know a predictable normality again as he was adopted by Steve McGarrett as his new _partner_.

Danny grinned anew as he snuck a peek at Steve's face while he did a post-flight check. Steve was enthralled with the process and completely in another one of his special elements. Danny began to wonder if Five-0 would be obligated to gas-up their newest and very unofficial toy for Kamekona since it was being borrowed more and more often. He didn't want to be around for that conversation with Governor Denning about the illicit use of tax-payer dollars.

That thought only led deeper to the ancient wreck of a chopper he'd been subjected to in Korea. A helicopter named _Tangerine_.

_North_ Korea. With a band of brotherly renegade SEAL's to track down, save and retrieve _his_ missing partner. In a defunct military chopper named _Tangerine_. Not so predictable and yet all of it had become _good_. And it made some of his personal issues with his ex-wife incredibly lackluster and just maybe, smaller in the grand scheme of things.

The concept of _leaving no man behind_ had also entered Danny's own life and he could feel the importance of it in his soul.

His loud snort of laughter made Steve glance over to him quizzically, but Danny just waved him off as he stowed the high powered rifle near the stash of grenades.

"Damned Army nut." The whisper was louder than he intended and Steve actually stopped this time to blatantly stare.

"What?" Steve asked from the opposite side of the chopper. Shrugging aimlessly, Danny continued his chuckled whisper under his breath as he corrected himself. "Sorry .. **_NAVY_**. Navy nut case. But grenades. Really?"

Yup. Not the usual flash-bang or benign smoke canister that he'd occasionally used, but live grenades. And if one might need a grenade at short notice, well there was always the glove compartment of the Camaro.

The second snort of laughter bubbled up again and once more Steve turned and just studied him as he wiped an errant tear from his eye.

"Problem there, Danno?" Steve asked as he joined him to walk back to the parking lot. "You didn't get hit .. or something .. did you?"

Barely evading the inquiring fingers that tried to snag his shirt, Danny completely ignored the head to toe examination that his partner threw his way. The man could be a worry-wart at times perhaps knowing that he'd virtually stolen a normal, every day person from a mundane police officer's life and tossed him into the most impossible of situations.

"Nope. It's all good." It was a standard and automatic reply that Danny was having trouble with as a goofy grin spread across his face. There should have been too many problems to count. But the new Danny didn't see these things as problems anymore.

His thoughts were interrupted as Steve snagged his car keys from his fingers and slid into the driver's seat of his car. "You have Grace next weekend?"

Danny was still smiling as he automatically changed course for the passenger side. "You bet I do."

And Steve's reply summed it up again with a tone that was laced with pleasure on Danny's own behalf. "Good."

"Yes it is." Danny huffed out happily. And Grace adored '_Uncle Steve_' .. _Uncle Steve_ the _Navy_ SEAL and Danno's partner that had somehow become also his best friend.

Danny didn't fail to see the matching grin plastered across Steve's face. Evidently the never-ending potential for Danny to possibly leave Five-0 had lived persistently in the back of his mind too. The initial announcement that Danny would stay and fight for Grace had eased some tension that neither knew existed. And that was wholly gone now after the custody hearing. Things were also quite _good_ in Steve's world when it came to the new stability of his partner, co-worker and … best friend.

An implausible reality for two people that never should have crossed paths on the planet in the first place and yet, worlds had collided.

Steve was the only person he would willingly entrust his beloved daughter to at a moment's notice with nary a question or look back. He couldn't think of a soul back in Jersey that he would feel the same way about when it came to Grace. And Steve had already proven that trust more than a few times.

Danny had learned to overlook the occasional grenade in the glove compartment of his own car. Life was _good_ and predictable was certainly over-rated.

_**~ End ~**_


End file.
